It was raining outside and the drops of pristine water made drumming sounds against the windows.I was in my room, scrolling through memes on my phone even though I had at least a dozen important stuff to do. I guess the word for my situation would be "procrastination".
My mom wasn't home so nobody was going to pester me with, "Come on, you need to clean the room!" or "Why aren't you working on your project?" Man, I needed to take time off to relax, didn't I? Okay, so where was I? Yeah, I was in my room doing nothing productive when someone knocked at the door. It couldn't be mom since she had just left. And which old fashioned person knocks at the door when there is a calling bell clearly visible? I supposed it was the little boy from next door whom I found terribly annoying.
There was another distinct knock at the door. "Impatient annoying people" I swore under my breath. I got up from my very comfortable bed and walked out to the corridor. The knocking at the door wouldn't stop. It felt as though someone was rattling the lock set. I didn't hurry. My mom would have rushed to the door immediately, no doubt, but I was never in a hurry. I sauntered my way to the door and opened it slightly ajar, asking, "Who is it?" I couldn't see anyone. "Okay, someone played a prank" I said to myself and shut the door with a bang.
As I was about to walk away, the rattling sound started again. Now I'm not a person who's scared of such silly things. I assumed it must be the annoying kid next door, pulling off some trick on me. I yelled at the door, "Why don't you go home and study? Shall I tell your mom huh?"
The loud knocks ceased. There was silence for an entire minute. It was so quiet that I could hear the slow ticking of the clock, "Tick Tock Tick Tock". I turned to go back to my room when the knocking started again. This time I was furious. I charged at the door and pushed it open.I looked out with my fists clenched. There was no one around.
Suddenly I heard something.It was a faint sound. I couldn't even make out what the source of the sound could be. All I could see was the wide stretch of wet green grass of my garden. I called out, "Hey! Who's there?" There was no answer. I looked around, behind the trees and bushes. To my disappointment, I found nothing. This was getting creepy. I decided to go back home and keep the door shut no matter who knocked. Even though I am a generally rational person, I was starting to think of strange possibilities. "What if it's a ghost?" I thought to myself.
A split second later, I laughed at my own absurd conclusion. I love the horror genre but I wouldn't love experiencing horror in my home.
I closed the door behind me and made sure that I also bolted it from inside. I was making my way back to my room when I heard it again- the faint sound of someone moving. I gulped. My limbs went weak and a chill ran down my spine. My hands reached out for my pockets to take out my phone. That's when I realized that I had left my phone in my room. I crept to my room with slight hesitation when I heard the sound again. Now I could make out where it was coming from. The sound of someone crying was evident from my room. My mind yelled "The Conjuring", "Annabelle", "The Shining", "The Exorcist", "Scream" and all other movies that I used to enjoy watching.
I whispered "Time to leave planet earth" and decided to run outside.
Since I'm not irrational like most of the characters in horror thrillers, I didn't care about going to my room to investigate or retrieve my phone. At that moment I realized that life was more important than my phone, bed, table whatsoever. I walked to the door and started unlocking it. My hands were trembling and I was cursing at myself for having locked the door so meticulously earlier. I couldn't open the lock- imagine... I couldn't open a simple lock!! As I was struggling with the lock, I heard a loud crash. "Lord of the Heavens! Angels from the sky!" I cried in desperation. After a minute or so I was able to unlock the door. I didn't look back even once. I just slammed the door behind me and ran as fast as my legs could take me. It was still raining. I ran to my neighbor's house and knocked at their door desperately. I even rang the bell a dozen times. I felt my inner self snicker at me and accusing, " Someone found her neighbors annoying not a little while ago " My knocks and rings went unanswered. My imagination went wild. "Oh no! He has murdered them! They couldn't escape.... I was the next target!!"
I was in tears and felt bad for having hated the little boy next door; afterall he was a kid, ruthlessly killed probably. My heart went out to his family at that moment. I wiped my forehead on both my sleeves, feeling the panic rise in me. My heart was racing and my throat was running dry. I stepped away and looked for signs of blood. What I found instead of blood was a big fat lock on their door and a big white label with big bold letters saying, "Milkman, no deliveries until 30th April" My mom often called me stupid . At this golden moment, I realized why. I said a silent sorry to the kid and his family for having brutally sent them to heaven in my head when they were actually out for a vacation.
I started laughing hysterically and then started to cry uncontrollably till I choked.
I sat on my knees and started beating the ground in absolute frustration. Someone called me from behind, "Mina? What's wrong?" I got up quickly and looked at the person, while brushing off mud from my pants. It was another neighbor, a guy called Sanjay, whom I spoke to very rarely. He peered at me curiously from under his umbrella. I suppose he saw me beating the ground and crying at the little kid's doorstep. Oh God. This was embarrassing. I said, "Uh, hi. What a pleasant day!!" He scanned me from top to bottom and asked carefully, "You know, you can tell me. I have a friend who is a therapist." God. Now he was convinced that I was suffering from severe mental trauma, which was true in a way. I couldn't let him think that as word spreads fast across the neighborhood. Having no other choice, I told him everything that happened earlier.
He had a dark expression on his face as he said, "I think we need to call the cops. But first, why don't we check?" I gasped and said, "Check? What do you mean? I can't go in. There's no way I'm going in" He smiled slightly and said, "Fine, I'll see what knocked at your door." I would have let him go in alone but what if he got killed inside? Wouldn't I become responsible for his death then? So, I followed him inside. He asked me the directions to my room and promptly walked in....and then he screeched, "Eeeee Mina!!" "What's it!?" I cried, running in.
No sooner had I stepped into my room, I froze. My eyes popped out and my mouth hung open. There he was, kneeling at my bed and cuddling the cat that was sleeping on it blissfully. "Oh my god!" I wailed. So this was it? A cat? A teeny weeny fluffy cat? Sanjay was chortling and managed to say a few words between peals of laughter, "Oh it was the cat knocking and rattling at your door hahahaaa!! It must have crept in when you looked out hahahhaha" Although I was prepared to dig my grave of embarrassment at that moment, I couldn't help but admire the sleeping beauty on my bed. It was a white tabby cat. I guess it must have tried to escape the rain and sought shelter. Sanjay said, "You know what Mina? Keep the windows open next time! Hahaha"
Right now, as I recall this incident instead of scrolling through memes, the cat is twitching and turning. I suppose it needs a blanket. I'll fetch one. Afterall it's a cute little cat. Sanjay has gone back to his home and I bet he is still in splits. I'm waiting for my mom to return home. Narrating her this story in person would be better than talking over the phone, right?
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